Posted on 10/22/2010 6:52:40 AM PDT by EBH
* Marseilles, Paris's Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports affected
* Passengers forced to carry their own luggage off planes
* 3,000 of the countrys 12,000 petrol stations have run dry
* Disputes costing country £100million a day
Armed with pump-action shotguns, sidearms and stun grenades the officers look like they belong in a war zone.
In fact they are elite French policemen who were deployed to the historic centre of Lyon yesterday to deal with rioting students.
(Getty Image, go to link to see photos)
President Nicolas Sarkozy took the extreme measure in the face of growing protests against an unpopular law aimed at increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62.
Nicknamed Sarkos Stormtroopers, the GIPN (National Police Intervention Group) faced down 2,000 youngsters in Place Bellecour where cars had been set on fire and shop windows smashed.
The elite unit, whose motto is Cohesion Brings Strength, was set up in 1972 to deal with terrorists and hostage takers.
Deploying them on the streets was a tactical decision deemed necessary because of the acts of violence and vandalism aimed at the community, said an interior ministry spokesman.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
This is what happens when people become accustomed to free fairy skittles from the govt. Start taking them away and tell them to adjust to the realities of life, and they’ll throw fits like toddlers.
British holidaymakers braced for half-term travel chaos as France introduces petrol rationing
Union official Charles Foulard said: The action is a disgrace because it took place in the middle of the night when the number of protesters was relatively small.
Mr Foulard also complained that workers had been requisitioned to help restart operations at Grandpuits.
An emergency decree, known as a requisition, can force strikers to return to work under threat of prosecution if there is a threat to public disorder.
The government is particularly keen to restore the countrys fuel supply before the All Saints school holiday, which starts today, but some 12 refineries remain blockaded, or subject to mass strike action by workers.
As the country plunged further into crisis, President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to hold a crisis meeting to deal solely with dwindling fuel supplies.
A spokesman for the Seine-Maritime department prefecture in Normandy said: Rationing is imperative while we deal with this crisis. Otherwise there would not be enough fuel to go round.
Overnight a squad of CRS riot police was used to disperse a crowd of some 200 trade unionists blocking the Total deport in Lespinasses, a suburb of Toulouse
“May I suggest using your nightstick, officers?”
Students who haven’t done one lick of work yet are rioting about raising the pension age from 60 to 62.
Good grief.
Are these the same French police who don’t dare patrol muslim sections of cities?
Notice just how many YOUTH are involved in the rioting? They’ve a long way to go before they get any kind of pension. So, what’s their beef?
Typical anarchist Left machine at work.
Students are rioting.
The Unions are all on strike.
France is falling apart and one quote from the above post indicates the rumors are starting of a 1968(?) style revolt.
We should be taking notes, because we’re going to need to make cuts too. What happens next? Even this morning there is the thread posted that unemployment extension funds have run out and there won’t be anymore. We’ll see about that as the dems can’t let it go unfunded before the elections.
No, these are the elite guys our special forces often work with and train with. They are part police and part military. They are under the MOD if I am not mistaken.
One young lady put it aptly. The extension of the retirement age takes their job opportunities away.
Then if Sarkozy survives this he can send them in to patrol muslim neighborhoods.
To borrow a phrase, The government that has the power to give you everything has the power to take it away too.
Of course.
We should hold our republican congress which we are about to vote in, on a very, very tight leash. They have exactly two years to behave well, as in cutting spending and doing away with entitlements. My congressman is a great conservative, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t continue to watch what he’s doing and how he is voting. He gets emails from me on a weekly basis. I am watching like a hawk and I suggest everybody else do just the same. We cannot afford one more friggin’ democrap in office.
French students riot for any reason. It’s a sport. There is a long tradition of rioting and aggressive striking that the US doesn’t have.
French truck drivers struck and used their trucks to block traffic last year.
Farmers dumped crops in the city streets.
It’s what they do. US culture is different and our revolt is at the ballot box.
Give them a whiff of grapeshot and see if that changes their attitude.
Cutting the entitlements is going to push a lot of folks over the edge. What they need to do is not only cut the entitlements, but have in place a plan to lead the nation to real recovery. This is where Sarkozy's failure is in that he has the plan to cut, but no articulated plan forward. For all our politicians claiming they will create jobs, they can't. All they can do is lead the horse to water after that it is up to the horse.
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